Cherry & Nutella Chocolate Cake

Chocolate sponge with cherry jam, fresh cream, Nutella buttercream and cherries on top

Course Dessert

Cuisine British

Keyword Cake

Prep Time 45

Cook Time 35

Total Time 1 15

Servings

Calories 837kcal

Author thebakingexplorer

Ingredients

For the sponges

520 g Butter or baking spread
520 g Caster sugar
9 Eggs large
400 g Self raising flour
120 g Cocoa powder
2 tbsp Milk

For the buttercream

300 g Icing sugar
150 g Butter or baking spread
200 g Nutella
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 tbsp Milk

For the filling

250 ml Double cream
250 g Mascarpone
1 jar of Cherry Jam

For decoration

10 Kirsch soaked cherries
Gold edible glitter
Dr Oetker chocolate strand sprinkles

Metric - US Customary

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 160C Fan/350F/Gas Mark 4. Grease and line three 9 inch sandwich tins (that are at least 2" deep)
Mix together the caster sugar and the butter, ideally using an electric mixer
Add the eggs, mixing them in two at a time
Mix in the self raising flour, cocoa powder and milk
Divide the mixture into the tins and bake it for 35 minutes, or until a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean, then leave to cool fully either in the tins or on cooling racks
Make the Nutella buttercream by mixing together the butter and the icing sugar, then add the Nutella, the milk and vanilla extract. Mix until smooth
Make the cream filling by whipping up the double cream, then mixing in the mascarpone cheese
Start stacking up the cakes. Spread half of the cream filling onto the first layer, followed by half a jar of the cherry jam on top. Do the same with the second layer of cake
Add the last sponge and spread a layer of the Nutella buttercream over the top using a palette knife
Put the rest of the Nutella buttercream in a piping bag fitted with a Wilton Number 6B Open Star Tip and pipe two rows of rosettes around the edge of the cake. Fill the middle with the chocolate strand sprinkles
Take 10 cherries out of a jar of kirsch soaked cherries and put them on some kitchen towel to soak away as much moisture as possible. Then roll half of each cherry in edible gold glitter and arrange them evenly around the cake
Serve immediately. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge and eat within 2 days

Notes

Make sure all your ingredients (particularly the butter and eggs) are at room temperature before you start baking.
I used a baking spread for the cake and unsalted butter for the buttercream.
You can use any cocoa powder for this cake, of course the better quality it is, the better flavour it will have. Also do make sure you are using cocoa powder and not a hot chocolate powder.
You can use fresh cherries for the decoration if you prefer.
Although I provide cup measurements, I highly recommend weighing your ingredients out using digital kitchen scales*. It is the most accurate way to measure ingredients and will ensure the best results. Digital scales are very low cost and can be purchased for around £12 ($16.50) .
For teaspoon (tsp) and tablespoon (tbsp) measurements, please use measuring spoons* and not the type of spoons you eat with. Again this will ensure accuracy and provide the best results.

Nutrition